instinctivemum

This competition has now closed.

Win tickets to the Birmingham Baby Show, courtesy of BRITAX!

From 16th-18th May the BRITAX team will be packing their bags and heading to Birmingham for The annual Baby Show fair at the NEC. As a BRITAX Mumbassador I’ve been given a pair of tickets to give away to one of my lucky followers!

At the show, BRITAX will be showcasing its brand new all-terrain power pushchair the BOB Revolution® PRO. This is the FIRST pushchair on the market that has a swivel wheel which is safe and approved* for running and skating in the UK and Europe. Adaptable and easy to use, it is also the perfect everyday stroller for any family, with a swivel front wheel that makes it easy to manoeuvre around town and will be on hand to try at the show.

Also on the stand will be the versatile DUALFIX seat. This clever ISOFIX Group 0+ & 1 car seat swivels a full 360°, offering parents the choice to leave their child rearward facing up until 18kg (approx. 4 years) or turn them 180° to a forward facing position from 9kg without reinstallation. DUALFIX’s 360° flexibility offers parents the best of both worlds, empowering them to choose a position that best suits them, their vehicle and their child.

Finally, BRITAX will also be showcasing its luxury pushchair, the Britax Affinity. A super-sleek pushchair for the fashion conscious mum and exuding quality, the BRITAX Affinity was created in conjunction with one of Europe’s leading designers and is as elegant as it is practical. Suitable from birth, its minimalist design gives it a distinctive, modern look, but without compromising on comfort, safety or ease of use.

Enter into the give-away below and you could find yourself on your way to The Baby Show to see the most innovative and popular products on the market! Competition closes Thursday 8th May. Please use the Rafflecopter form below to enter! T&Cs apply.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

* approved by TUV, world leading technical service providers of testing and product certification. The TUV stamp of approval provides peace of mind to parents that products are safe, reliable and compliant. For more information, visit http://www.tuv.com/en/corporate/about_us_1/aboutus_1.html
This competition has been brought to you as part of the BRITAX Mumbassador programme.

When it’s the middle of the night and I’m not allowed to sleep,
I panic and I feel wretched and I slowly start to weep.

The weeping turns to anger and I feel out of control,
Hate myself, hate no sleep, into darkness I begin to fall.

Evil words leave my mouth and cruelly abuse those who are near,
Words I don’t mean designed to sting all fuelled by anxiety and fear.

Not being rational I think the worse and always sink so low,
I want to run, I want to escape and get out of here just go.

There’s no air, I can’t focus, I need time out just to breathe.
But all I do is hear the noise, and scream and shout and seethe.

And when it stops or I’ve blocked it out the calmness soon comes back,
Rational again, able to cope, with everything colourful not black.

I say I’m sorry, guilt sets in and I feel I’ve let everyone down.
The day is hard I struggle through, wrinkles formed by a constant frown.

Will this always be a weakness, will no sleep a trigger be?
Is this what it’s lasting legacy is, the bitch that’s PND.

BRITAX AND BOB SPONSOR THE BLISS BUGGY PUSH FOR A SECOND YEAR in
London, UK!

For the second year running, leading child safety brand, BRITAX, is proud to announce its dual headline sponsorship of the 2014 Bliss Buggy Push alongside sporty outdoor stroller brand, BOB. The Bliss Buggy Push involves a series of family-friendly 5km buggy walks or runs across the UK, designed to help raise money for Bliss, the special care baby charity.

Bliss is a UK charity working to provide the best possible care and support for all premature and sick babies and their families. One in every nine babies is born premature or sick – that is around 80,000 babies every year.
Bliss is encouraging people all around the country to organise their own Buggy Push in their local area between May and December 2014, with the flagship London launch event taking place in Battersea Park, London on 31 May.
The Bliss Buggy Push series is Bliss’ most successful family fundraising event where mums, dads and children come together to raise money for the charity. Alongside sponsorship of the event BRITAX will also be giving away one of its most popular pushchairs, the BRITAX affinity, to the highest individual fundraiser in this year’s Bliss Buggy Push series. More details about the events and how to enter the competition are available here.

Bengi Bingol Yalcin, UK Marketing Manager at BRITAX remarks, ‘We’re very proud to be coming on board with Bliss again this year. The Bliss Buggy Push is an incredible event that’s really accessible to anyone who wants to get up and active with their little one – and the best part is it’s all in the name of a fantastic cause.’

This year, the London Buggy Push closely follows the launch of the brand new BOB Revolution PRO, BRITAX/BOB’s most versatile outdoor stroller yet. The Revolution PRO allows parents to run and train with their child, with the added flexibility of having a swivel front wheel, making it the perfect everyday stroller too. So if you’re looking for a new training companion ahead of your push this year, don’t forget to check it out.

About BRITAX & BOB

– providing practical and emotional support for families during an extremely difficult time, so they can give the best care to their babies.
– encouraging health care professionals to deliver family centred care, funding specialist Bliss nurses in hospitals and supporting research to improve care of all premature and sick babies.
– raising awareness of the issues affecting special care babies and fight for essential change within government and the NHS.
– for more information about Bliss, visit http://www.bliss.org.uk

This post was brought to you as part of the BRITAX Mumbassador programme.

Crossroads: 1. an intersection of two or more roads.
2. a point at which a crucial decision must be made which will have far-reaching consequences.

Ever feel like you don’t quite fit? Like what used to work no longer does and now it feels plain awkward, unpleasant almost?

I very much feel like I’ve reached a set of crossroads in my life and that I need to make a decision which could take me in any number of directions. Fundamentally I know that direction will not be the one from where I’ve come – for at the moment at least, my current path is one I no longer wish to walk upon.

I’ve always been very aware of my mortality and of making every second in life count. For example, I’m ridiculously bad at saving; often enjoying spending sprees if I can, not seeing the point in being the richest person in the graveyard. I like things to be immediate, present. I am impatient and hate waiting with a passion. Why wait to enjoy life when I can theoretically do it now? And it’s this constant thought that has led me to where I currently stand, at these crossroads.

Deciding your own fate is quite a powerful tool. The possibilities – even with three children in tow – are pretty much endless. It’s having the courage and determination to make those decisions that’s the problem. It’s easy to get comfortable, muddle on by vaguely satisfied with your lot. However familiarity often breeds contempt, and we can begin to resent what once held enjoyment. The everyday groundhogness of life (I talk about his often) can undoubtedly be wearing and tiresome.

I think for me I’ve had a sudden realisation that no one else is responsible for my happiness – and I am fed up of my mood being solely dependent on the moods of others. I’d like to be in control of my own emotions and I’m sure that if I was doing something with my life that made me happy, I may have more of a grip on them instead of finding everything so sodding overwhelming.

So I’ve made a big decision. It may never actually come to fruition and I might be kidding myself that it’s even possible, but you know what, if I don’t try I’ll never know and will spend forever regretting it, slowly becoming more miserable by the day.

And so, my decision is…

To apply to go back to university and do a Creative Writing Masters.

I love writing, and I always have. It’s saved me from PND, it’s cathartic, exciting, rewarding. I fizz with ideas and physically feel like I am going to explode if I don’t write them down. It’s what I’ve always wanted to do, but have never dreamed possible.

This week has been spent drafting and redrafting (a stupid number of times) personal statements and short stories for submission. The thought of doing the course excites me more than I ever thought possible and yes…I am well aware that I might not even get on it (I often doubt my writing and think it sounds like something a ten year old would’ve written!) but at least I’ll have tried. Done something positive to realise that ever hopeful dream of living to work!

So for now the decision about which direction to take at these crossroads is an easy and amazingly exciting one. My happiness is very much my responsibility – and I’m going to do everything I can to make myself ecstatic.